Some troubling news on the pro-choice front: according to the AFP, almost 70% of Italian gynecologists refuse to perform abortions, up from under 60% in 2003. "Italy legalized abortion in 1978 but pressure from the Vatican enabled doctors to claim a 'conscientious objection' and refuse to carry out the procedure," the NY Times reports. A large percentage of Italian anesthetists are also refusing to participate in abortions — nearly 50% these days. In Sicily, a whopping 84% of gynos will not perform the procedures. [Agence France-Presse via New York Times]